Ficlet Series
by sue-kitchen
Summary: I started writing these after Intern's Guide To The Galaxy, inspired of course by what we had seen in the show. Each ficlet is from the point of view of either Ray or Neela, reflecting on events that are occurring or have occurred... enjoy.
1. Trouble

**_Trouble _**- _Neela**  
Spoilers: Up to and including 11-05: "An Intern's Guide To The Galaxy"**_

Neela sighed.

First she decided that she wasn't good enough for the world of medicine, then she was dragged right back into it.

Now her point was proven. As Pratt had cheerfully announced earlier, Barnett had discharged twice the number of patients she had, and she wouldn't be surprised if he had somehow trebled that number now.

She knew it didn't really matter. She was taking care of her patients and at the end of the day, that was what counted.

But it still pissed her off.

To cap it all, he was slimey. Bribing the nurses with baked goods, getting hugs from people he'd spent two minutes with and coaching the med students to be just like him. Brilliant.

And he called her Doctor Jumbomart.

Yet she still found herself unable to look at him during conversation for more than five seconds without finding a spot over his shoulder to fix her gaze on instead. He was undeniably attractive, dangerously so, and still had that look. That fresh-faced look of someone who hadn't yet been completely sucked into the County universe.

And he had that way about him. That casual, smooth way, as he had tried to reassure her about the leukaemia patient.

Ah, no. He was on 26 and she 16 - if she didn't count the pity patient he'd attempted to put against her name.

He'd approached her then, and she resolutely stood fixed to the spot, not daring to look from her chart. He put a chart back in the rack, leaning around her as he did so, speaking into her ear. His face was mere centimetres away and she could feel his breath as he spoke, the gesture unquestionably flirtatious in nature, displaying a level of intimacy far beyond that of two work colleagues who had met properly only that day.

He was trouble.

But she never flinched, willing to play this game with him, wondering where it would take them. The rush was exhilarating, a definite spark in every look, every slight touch - even when they were working on a patient, fitting a chest tube. They hadn't even got through a whole shift together yet, but already the tension was there.

Oh yes, he was trouble. The kind of trouble she'd like to be in...


	2. Challenge

**_Challenge - _**_Ray**  
Spoilers: Up to and including 11-05: "An Intern's Guide To The Galaxy" **_

Oh, she was hot alright.

He'd decided that the first time he saw her in the trauma room as he'd done his best not to stare at her outright. He knew where the damn drug lock up was, but he just had to get a better look...

She even had the statue of liberty hat working for her.

So when he sped into County on his skateboard, hitching a ride behind the rig and saw her for the third time, he knew he was in for one hell of a day.

She had skills too, even though they hid behind her shyness and self-confidence issues. But she'd pushed him away from chest tube guy as he was left to look on, a mere spectator of the woman at work.

He was hooked.

He'd deliberately tried to unnerve her all day, trying to gain the upper hand, but she was fiesty. She'd all but ignored his offer of a chocolate, stalking away with her student.

Flashing winning smiles her way was having no effect either, her concentration never wavering from the job.

Racing ahead with the dispo's, he was sure he must be making an impression on her. Women quite simply didn't resist him. That wasn't arrogance, that was just what precedent told him.

He finally had her alone, and all she wanted to do was talk about some patient who'd run off. So he'd reassured her, not pushing things too much, but being sure not to stray too far from her side, taking every opportunity he had to look at her unnoticed. Until the students appeared again.

Thankfully, she wasn't there to see Carter's display. His image remained intact.

Only a few moments before though, he'd brushed past her, testing the water, seeing how far into her personal space he could get before she'd back off. Or slap him. One or the other.

She didn't move, though. She didn't even look up, ignoring his movements entirely... but she'd refused to argue with the fact that she owed him.

That, he could work with.

It would be a challenge, but one he knew he would enjoy.


	3. Reason

_**Reason - **Neela**  
Spoilers: Up to and including 11-08: "A Shot In The Dark"**_

Poor kid.

The day had started well enough. He'd flirted his way into getting her to work Christmas for him, and she'd let him. She'd been writing a cheque for $1000 to her father, suspecting it would bounce, enjoying, as ever, the banter that passed between them as he grinned at her and fluttered his eyelids.

The moments she'd secretly been enjoying had continued over the past couple of months, his persistence unrelenting, her resolve never faltering. She refused to let him in, knowing the dangers all too well, but still she revelled in it.

Hardly seemed to matter now. Nothing much mattered when a boy had all but lost his father. Some things were just so… senseless.

And where was he?

She'd done her best, but the mother wasn't having any of it. At least this way he stood a better chance of having his father around in some capacity, even if that involved being comatose…

He was where he always was. _Somewhere else._

Her sadness subsided in time to be taken over by anger, fury, frustration. He had to know what he'd done – no, what he'd failed to do for this boy. It couldn't happen again. There was already too much sorrow in the E.R for him to add to it. How could he just leave like that? Did he not understand that his decisions, his choices and his actions affected more than just his own petty life? How could he be so callous and cavalier about the future of a fifteen year old?

Deep down, she knew he was a good person. Conflicted, misguided at times. But a good person. He hid himself behind a rockstar façade, maintaining detachment from the horrors they encountered from day to day, as he had done this day. She had to reach him, break through.

She would find a good reason for his actions there. She would find it, he would explain it to her, and she would understand. She stormed out of the hospital, intent on finding him.

And if he didn't have a good reason? _Then he'll damn well wish he had._


End file.
